“A song has a life of its own. It's an autonomous thing, separate from your own experience, almost. And the mere repetition of it means it's subject to change; it means approaching it differently, expressing different emotional aspects of it. It doesn't feel like wallowing.” FeelsMeanDifferentSongSubjectsEmotionalAspectMereRepetitionAutonomousWallowing Author:St. Vincent
“I think if you're writing from the heart, very often, the subject matter will adjust as you age... but you try to write the best song you can possibly write. For us, we have the same basic elements that make up the America sound.” IfsThinkingWritingTryingHeartMatterAgeAmericaSongSoundSubjectsElementsSubject MatterWriting From The Heart Author:Gerry Beckley
“I think pop culture is the greatest subject matter out there - 'Other People's Lives,' as we wrote about on the last Duran Duran album. Most ideas for great songs come from real situations, something your friend said to you the night before, the girl that just left, or something traumatic in your life.” PeopleThinkingSaidIdeasRealMatterLastsNightSongCultureGirlLeftSituationSubjectsAlbumsPopsPop CultureSubject MatterDuran Duran Author:Nick Rhodes
“This is a catastrophic universe, always; and subject to hidden reversals, upheavals, changes, cataclysms, with joy never anything but the song of substance under pressure forced into new forms and shapes.” FormJoySongUniverseSubjectsShapesPressureSubstanceUnder PressureUpheavalReversal Author:Doris Lessing
“I think, 'How could anybody mock a good pop song?' It is timeless; it transcends barriers; it breaks down every single type of social barrier that you can possibly have. It can deal with the most difficult subjects, even if it abstracts the subject matter.” IfsThinkingMatterSongSocialDifficultDealsBreakSubjectsTypePopsBarriersTimelessBreaking DownSubject MatterMockPop SongDifficult Subjects Author:Mika
“The songs are definitely all about me. I am my favourite subject.” SongSubjectsFavourite Author:Teddy Thompson
“I think a lot of times, artists and albums can become formulaic. You're known for a certain thing, and you continue to do that. You just change the subject matter, but it's the same song. And that's what you do.” ThinkingMatterArtistCertainSongKnownSubjectsAlbumsSubject Matter Author:Eric Church
“I'm not one of these people who sits down and writes to say I'm gonna write a song about this or that, or a specific subject. The songs actually kind of write themselves.” PeopleWritingKindSongSubjectsDown And Author:Creed Bratton
“As much as I love performing, nothing juices me up creatively like being in my own studio for an extended period. Songs, ideas, even paintings are pouring out of me. My inspiration and usual subject matter: life.” IdeasMatterInspirationSongMy OwnSubjectsPaintingPeriodsStudiosPerformingUsualJuiceSubject MatterPouring Author:Adrian Belew
“There is a song of Gainsbourg that Jane Birkin sang, and the words are beautiful in French. It says, "Le jeu et les moi." It's impossible to translate, because it has a very nice sound. It sounds so lovely in French. So I took that because it was the subject: I and myself and myself and I. Which is, in a way, boring, because it is a contradiction.” WayBeautifulSongSoundNiceImpossibleSubjectsBoringLovelyContradictionTranslateJaneVery Nice Author:Agnes Varda
“Sound continues to be a mystery to me, in that one could create infinite songs focusing on the same subject, but depending on the melody, instrument choice, minor or major key, time signature, etc., each song could elicit an entirely different response.” DifferentSongChoicesSoundMysterySubjectsKeysMajorsInfiniteInstrumentsResponseEtcMelodyMinorsSignatures Author:Josh Garrels
“I was playing heavy metal when I was 18. I had to evolve out of that into an alternative consciousness about what it meant to change the way I played guitar, and the kind of songs, and the subject matter, and singing about child abuse, and all this stuff. I had to come from somewhere, and I had to take chances to do that.” WayKindChildrenMatterSongStuffChanceConsciousnessSubjectsSingingAbuseGuitarHeavyAlternativesEvolveMetalsChild AbuseTake A ChanceSubject MatterHeavy Metal Author:Billy Corgan
“Well, the first thing I do is I try to listen to whatever rapping is already on the track. I listen for cadence and melody to see how the track's already been written, and to make sure that whatever flow or flows I decide to run with, or patterns or melodies that I decide to put into the song, that they're not already in there. Then I try to see if there's a different part of the subject matter that I can talk about.” IfsTryingFirstsWellsI CanDifferentMatterRunningSongWrittenSubjectsFlowPatternsTrackRapMelodySubject MatterCadence Author:Bun B
“When I'm in the mode of feeling positive about love, I don't really feel the need to mark it down in song. In fact, I know what that song would sound like, and I would not subject anybody to that.” KnowsNeedsFeelsFactsFeelingsSongSoundSubjectsMark Author:Babatunde Adebimpe
“As far as subject matter, I'd say most of the songs aren't that personal to me. I love making up characters and kind of having fun in a different kind of way.” WayKindDifferentMatterCharacterSongFunSubjectsHaving FunDifferent KindsSubject MatterLove MakingMaking Up Author:Carrie Underwood
“I think we owe it to children to let them dig their knowledge, of whatever subject, for themselves out of the "fit" book; and this for two reasons: What a child digs for is his own possession; what is poured into his ear, like the idle song of a pleasant singer, floats out as lightly as it came in, and is rarely assimilated. I do not mean to say that the lecture and the oral lesson are without their uses; but these uses are, to give impulse and to order knowledge; and not to convey knowledge.” ThinkingGivingMeanChildrenTwoBookReasonUseSongOrderSubjectsFitLessonsEarsPossessionSingersImpulsePleasantIdleFloatsLectures Author:Charlotte Mason
“You have to remember that writing those sorta songs is not reality, it's more like trance, dream, y'know, like dreamwork. The mythical thing can enter the creating but there's the mythical place and the real place. And there's both...I get it between waking and sleeping. Or, when I'm doing something else. I don't sit down and think I'm gonna write about subject X or subject Y. I could be doing something and an impression comes in from outside and the song emerges out of that. It's never thought about or contrived.” ThinkingKnowsWritingRealDreamRealityRememberSongSleepSubjectsCreatingDown AndImpressionWakingTranceDreamworks Author:Van Morrison
“But I never want to get to the point where I write a safe song or one that represents my sense of a subject in order to appear civilized.” WantWritingSongOrderSubjectsSafeCivilized Author:Suzanne Vega
“I write songs about real things... The subject dictates the mood and it goes from there, really.” WritingRealSongSubjectsMoodReal Things Author:John Mayall